My kids gave me one last present this Christmas. It came in a gift bag that contained what I assumed was a mock-up of a newspaper proclaiming me something-of-the-year. I thought that they had made it up at a mall kiosk as a thoughtful gift. And so began an unexpected and overwhelming interlude of kind words and calls of congratulations for being selected as the Herald’s Person of the Year for Rockville Centre. I want to thank the Herald for this lovely honor. However, please be aware — when the Herald sends their writer and photographer out to “get a head shot for our file,” there may be more to it than meets the eye!

First of all, congratulations to all of the other Herald Person of the Year recipients and their families. I hope you all had the same kind of week that I just experienced. In my case, please understand the compliment it was to be nominated by Kevin McDonough and Bob Klein. They are simply two of the finest people I have ever met. Thank you to them and to everyone involved in the recent article, particularly my friends and family — evenJohn Maher and Christina Daly of the Herald, who hoodwinked me into assisting them! Thanks also to my well-wishers who have called, texted, emailed, sent a card and stopped me in town. This has been quite the week.

There could be no greater honor than to be selected Person of the Year in your own village, but to receive it in a place like RVC is overwhelming, as we are certainly not short of dedicated people. I accept this honor on behalf of the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers in Rockville Centre that make it such an incredible community and a terrific place to live and raise a family.